Sunday, February 20, 2005

The Wrong Side

David bought his dad a new car..

and so now i have his dad's old car to practise driving on the wrong side of the road with. I have only driven manual transmission ( as opposed to automatic ) cars and it freaks me out that when i put the car into D, it goes without my even stepping on the gas...AND there is NO clutch pedal! PLUS, when I try to put the blinker on, because everything is on the wrong side, I end up shifting gears.

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies.In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.

Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.

In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver's seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right.

LMAO - It's got to be rough driving on the wrong side for you. I'm going to be visiting London this summer. Although I could take my own car, I'm not going to do it. Figured I save the costs of a traffic accident. LOL

Because of the really steep hills in San Francisco, Raven didn't want to keep my VW 5-speed. We ended up selling it. I miss my manual. but I do get to drive my BIL's car when I go home and I get my fix.

Go on Letti!It's not as hard after some practice, I promise :D I've only driven on the left side (my wrong) some years ago when I was on visit in South Africa. It was scary at first, but I got used to it after a while. You should have seen my first trip after gotten home to Norway ;)As for atomatic gear, I agree they are no fun!! Even though I has a car with automatic gear I still miss the clotch and manual gear :( But it easy to drive once you get used to it....This got long ;DWell, good luck!!*hug*

Hey, I like your new picture! Regarding the car, look at it this way. It's much easier to go from stick to automatic than from automatic to stick - and that goes double for switching sides of the road!

Driving on the left just feels so totally right, I think I would freak if I found myself in the US or Europe. And as to manual vs auto, gotta be a manual. More control and more pep up hills - I get bored in an automatic, what do you do if you're not busy changing gears?